Saudis lack the ground troops needed to reduce casualties in Yemen

NY Times:

Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen’s Carnage

Errant Saudi-led airstrikes have killed more than 4,000 civilians, upending the U.S. policy of selling weapons with the expectation that they will rarely be used.
What this story ignores in its lead is the fact that the Saudis and the world have a strategic interest in stopping Iranian proxies from controlling Yemen and the narrow sea passage where much of the world's oil moves on ships toward the Suez canal.  It would be an economic disaster for Europe and the Middle East to allow Iran to capture Yemen and control those sea lanes.

The Saudi military focuses much of its military resources on air power.  That is why it is engaged in a bombing campaign to stop the Iranian proxies from prevailing.  The Saudis lack the number of ground troops needed to put an adequate force to space ratio of troops into Yemen to control the movement of the Iranian proxies and stifle their insurgency.  It is also likely that using the ground troops needed to control the insurgency would boost Saudi casualties.

Ignoring the strategic importance of defeating Iran and its proxies and focusing on casualties is a mistake that would cost the world dearly.

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